NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Reinforcing an already common
practice, a government-backed panel says women should be
screened for gestational diabetes after 24 weeks of pregnancy
even if they don't have symptoms.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says all
pregnant women who have not been previously diagnosed with
diabetes should be given a blood test for the condition, which
increases the risk of complications during and after birth.

"Gestational diabetes is an important condition to
consider," Dr. Wanda Nicholson told Reuters Health. "It affects
two people - a mother and her offspring."

Nicholson is an immediate former member of the USPSTF and an
associate professor in the Department of Gynecology and
Obstetrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Medicine.

"It doesn't really say anything different than what's
already out there, but it's going to be one more piece of
support to the practice that's already in place," Dr. Yvette
LaCoursiere told Reuters Health of the guideline.

LaCoursiere is the director of the University of California,
San Diego's Maternal Weight and Wellness Program and was not
involved with the recommendation.

Like other types of diabetes, the gestational form occurs
among pregnant women whose bodies can't make or use enough
insulin, a hormone that gives glucose - or blood sugar - access
to the body's cells to be used as fuel.

"It's a really interesting thing," Dr. Loralei Thornburg
said. "The baby and the placenta kind of want to make you
diabetic."

Thornburg was also not involved with making the new
recommendation. She is a high-risk pregnancy expert at the
University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

"They (the baby and placenta) try to drive the maternal
blood sugar up to drive more glucose into the baby to feed the
growing baby," she said. "The mother's body balances this with
increased insulin and other hormones. When the body is unable to
keep up with this, and the maternal glucose becomes out of
balance (too high), you have gestational diabetes."

The condition affects approximately 18 percent of
pregnancies, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Women who are obese, older, members of an ethnic group with
an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and who have a history of
gestational diabetes or a family history of diabetes are at
increased risk for developing gestational diabetes, according to
the USPSTF.

If left untreated, gestational diabetes can lead to a
larger-than-normal baby, which can cause problems for the mother
later in pregnancy and during delivery. The baby can also suffer
nerve damage from pressure on its shoulders during delivery,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The USPSTF writes in the Annals of Internal Medicine that it
found with "moderate certainty" that there is a net benefit to
screening for gestational diabetes after 24 weeks of pregnancy
to reduce complications.

The new recommendation is an update to a 2008 statement by
the panel, which concluded there was not enough evidence to
recommend for or against screening.

The panel still says there is not enough evidence to
recommend for or against screening for gestational diabetes
before 24 weeks.

"What's happened between 2008 and 2013 is that there have
been several large randomized trials that have found some
substantial reductions in pregnancy-related outcomes," Nicholson
said.

In the review the panel used as the basis of its
recommendation, researchers found there were fewer cases of high
blood pressure among pregnant women who were treated for
gestational diabetes. There were also fewer larger-than-normal
babies and fewer cases of babies' shoulders getting stuck during
delivery among those women.

LaCoursiere said women who are diagnosed with gestational
diabetes are more likely to develop 2 diabetes later on.

"It's a glimpse into someone's future," she said. "Maybe
it's the window of opportunity that will allow women to change
their behavior to avoid type 2 diabetes down the road."

Treatment for gestational diabetes includes diet and
lifestyle changes. If those fail, medication may be necessary.

"It gets to the point that nutrition in pregnancy is
important and everyone should be following a diet of less ice
cream and more vegetables," Thornburg said.

Screening for gestational diabetes is covered by insurance
under the 2010 Affordable Care Act - better known as Obamacare -
according to Nicholson.